


The Code

by Kyuubiluver342



Series: The Many Times Seto Kaiba Was In Debt To Joey Wheeler [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 09:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16637354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyuubiluver342/pseuds/Kyuubiluver342
Summary: The brothers are at their wit's end, but maybe Joey could see something they missed?





	The Code

The Code

“Seto, please. I can’t look at this code anymore.” Mokuba whined, face buried in the couch in Seto’s office.

Seto sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. God, they were both exhausted beyond all reason and, if he was going to be honest, Seto was about to throw in the towel.

“Mokuba, we need to figure out why it isn’t working.” Seto groaned, but even he didn’t have the energy for it.

A few days ago, Mokuba and he had come up with an idea for the next gaming system and had started writing the code for it, but no matter what the brothers did, the code would not work. Seto was about to send the code down to his team and see if they could figure it out, but his pride wouldn’t let him. He wanted to badly to make it work on his own. To prove that he, Seto Kaiba, was a genius in every way, including coding. His phone dinged just then and he sighed, picking it up.

“Yes?” he asked boredly.

“Sir, your two o’clock, Mr. Wheeler, is here.” his secretary chirped and he mentally sighed.

Great, the one person he really, really didn’t want to see was here. Glancing at the clock, he noted the Mutt was early for once. Good.

“Send him in.” he said before hanging up.

“The Mutt is here.” Seto stated and Mokuba looked up. 

The dark bags under his eyes made Seto feel bad. Mokuba hadn’t been getting anymore sleep than he had. A knock came to the door before it opened. Joey walked in with a wave, but stared at them in confusion, startled by their appearance.

“Jesus, what happened to you two?” he asked as he threw himself into a chair in front of the desk.”

“Nothing.” Seto said.

“We’ve been working on something.” Mokuba replied at the same time.

The brothers locked eyes and Seto sighed, rubbing his nose, trying to stop a headache from forming. He was way too tired for this.

“Wow. Everything ok with it?” he asked curiously.

Seto growled and wanted to strangle the other. He didn’t want to tell the Mutt about his possible failure, but Mokuba seemed to jump up just then.

“We’ve been working on this code and nothing we do seems to make it work right.” he admitted and Joey blinked.

“Want me to look at it?” Joey asked and Seto snorted.

“Oh yes, because clearly you would be able to figure it out, Mutt. It would just be a waste of everyone’s time.” Seto replied coldly.

Joey huffed and glared at him.

“I might be able to see something you are missing. New eyes and all that. Besides, you two both look awful and I can’t imagine your oh so glorious mind is working at full capacity here.” Joey snapped.

“Even with half a brain, I am still smarter than you.” Seto snapped back and Mokuba whistled, loudly.

“Enough. Come on, Seto. Just let him look at it.” Mokuba begged and Seto sighed before getting up.

“Fine, but when your brain explodes, I don’t want to hear it.” he stated.

He walked over to his window and stared out at the world below. In the window, he watched Joey get up and go behind his desk. Sitting in his chair, Joey started to scroll over the code, humming as he did so. Five minutes went by and Seto was about to call it off when Joey paused and tilted his head to the side.

“Are there supposed to be two zeros here?” he asked, pointing to something on the screen.

Seto and Mokuba both jumped behind him and stared where his finger was pointing. Staring at the line, Seto almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Holy shit. He’s right.” Mokuba whispered and Seto could have wept.

Days of non-stop editing and fixing the code and it was one zero off the whole time. Pushing Joey from his chair, he was quick to update the code and with that, they watched the code run perfectly, not an error in sight. Seto almost slammed his head into his desk. Mokuba groaned by his side and rested his head on Seto’s shoulder.

“I need a nap. Maybe a little coma after this.” Mokuba muttered and Seto snorted.

“So was that it?” Joey asked, arms crossed and Seto nodded.

“It was.” he admitted hesitantly.

God, it was going to kill him to say thank you to the Mutt for this. He might actually die of a heart attack. Joey snorted and Seto glared his way.

“Something to say, Mutt?” he demanded.

“Oh nothing. Just happy my pea-brain outsmarted the so called genius of our time.” Joey said mockingly and Seto almost strangled him then and there.

The smirk on his face was annoying and Seto had the urge to make it go away. Whether it was through violence or something a little hotter was anyone’s guess.

“Seto, please.” Mokuba whined before looking at Joey with a smile.

“Thank you, Joey. It’s been driving us up a wall for days.” he said and Joey’s smirk turned to a small smile.

“No problem, kid. You two seriously look like crap though. You should go get some sleep.” Joey said with a hint of concern.

Seto ignored the warm feeling in his chest at that. If he knew one thing about the man is Joey was honest. When he said something, he meant it. Seto rubbed his eyes again and thought of something.

“Listen Wheeler, we need to make one thing clear here. You can’t tell anyone about what we are working on. No one. Not Yugi, not Tristan and not your sister.” Seto said seriously and Joey rolled his eyes.

“I get it, Money-bags. No need to get all hot about it. I doubt I could explain it clearly to anyone anyway.” Joey stated.

Seto was about to comment on that when Mokuba yawned and rubbed his eye.

“Ok, now that we settled that, I guess we owe Joey...again.” Mokuba muttered and Seto was really starting to get sick of that sentence.

“Alright, Mutt. What do you want this time?” he demanded and Joey huffed.

“I’m not sure. Don’t really need anything…” Joey said, rubbing the back of his neck before blinking.

“Oh! What about a gift card?” he asked.

“A...gift card?” Seto mumbled.

“Yeah, to that little coffee shop we went to for a business meeting that one time. I loved that coffee, but that place is expensive as hell.” Joey said and Seto frowned.

“Why not just put it on your Kaiba Corp card?” Mokuba asked curiously and Joey stared at him blankly.

“My what?” he asked and the brothers paused.

“Your Kaiba Corp card. The one you got for being a duelist with Kaiba Corp? Don’t tell me you fucking lost it.” Seto snarled and Joey scowled back.

“I have no idea what you are going on about, asshole. I don’t have one of those.” Joey snapped.

Mokuba had a sinking feeling in his stomach. All Kaiba Corp duelists got a corporate card when they signed up and proved they would be valuable to the company. It helped to pay for expenses that had to do with dueling, such as hotels, travel, food and more when they were on the circuit. 

“Joey, how have you been paying for your dueling expenses then?” Mokuba asked seriously.

“I pay my own way, just like everyone else.” he replied and Seto felt hot fury run through him.

Something was off here, something had gone wrong and Joey didn’t know it. Seto reached for his phone and dialed the financial department head.

“Mr. Wilder speaking.” a man said on the other end.

“Wilder. My office. Now.” he demanded before hanging up.

Joey was staring again, brow furled like he was trying to understand something as he sat down in the chair. Seto wondered if smoke would start to pour out of his ears of he tried too hard. It didn’t take long for a knock to come at the door and Seto sat back in his chair. The man who stepped into the room was short and stout, dressed in a suit tailored to him and clearly nervous. Joey eyed him with curiosity, but there was no recognition in his eyes.

“Wheeler, do you know who this it?” Seto asked and Joey shook his head slowly.

“No, never seen him before.” Joey said and Seto grit his teeth.

“That’s funny, because Mr. Wilder here is the head of the Kaiba Corp sponsorship financial department. If there is anyone you should know best, it is this man right here.” Seto stated coldly and Wilder suddenly looked very pale.

“Wheeler? As in Joey Wheeler?” the man squeaked and Seto’s eyes narrowed.

“The very same. We were having a very interesting discussion just now, Mr. Wilder. One that I never would have assumed I would be having.” Seto started.

He swallowed hard and tugged a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his brow. Seto saw this and saw red. Even he could tell that small bit of cloth was just as expensive as the suit he was wearing.

“A discussion, sir?” the man stuttered.

“Yes, one I thought you would be highly interested in. It seems Mr. Wheeler misplaced his Kaiba Corp card. In fact, it’s so lost he didn’t even know he was supposed to have one. I had assumed that, if this was the case, he would be able to recognize you and we could all get this figured out simply. However, as you can see, Mr. Wheeler doesn’t even know who you are.” Seto continued.

The man looked faint and Joey was looking between the two with a frown. Meanwhile, Mokuba had moved to the other chair in the room and was playing around with something on his laptop, something that made him scowl angrily before looking up.

“That’s a very nice suit you have there, Mr. Wilder.” Mokuba stated and he seemed thrown by this.

“Ah, yes, thank you, Mr. Kaiba. It’s ah new.” he muttered.

“Really? How nice. It must have cost a lot.” Mokuba stated and he nodded, eyes darting between the three.

“Yes, it was quite expensive. I apologize, but if there is an issue with Mr. Wheeler’s card, I am sure I can have it replaced quickly.” he said and Mokuba hummed.

“I’m sure you can, but that doesn’t explain why Joey’s card is missing, but has clearly been used. In fact, there have been multiple purchases made on the card in the last month alone. Including one made yesterday. A rather expensive purchase to Jay and Jay, a rather high class tailor in Domino City.” Mokuba finished.

“As you can see, Mr. Wilder, Mr. Wheeler doesn’t exactly care for expensive suits.” Seto demanded coldly and Joey seemed to look down with a frown.

“Mr. Kaiba, Sir, you can’t seriously be implying what I think you are implying?” the man squealed and Seto’s hand slammed against the desk.

“Then allow me to say it loud and clear for you, Mr. Wilder. I am going to go through every inch of your records, every paper and every file. I will find out what has been going on behind my back and, when I do, I will destroy you. Everything you have done, every penny you have stolen from me will be dragged out of you. If you thought you could get away with this, you are dead wrong.” Seto growled.

Just then the doors opened and Roland came in with two other men. Seto had set off the alarm under his desk and was viciously pleased to see the man wet himself in fear.

“Roland, take Mr. Wilder here to the security office and have the police called. It seems he has stolen from Kaiba Corp and I want charges filed immediately.” Seto demanded.

Mr. Wilder threw himself on his knees and started to wail, begging Seto not to go through with it, that he would return the money, but he was quickly grabbed and dragged out. With a deep sigh, Seto grabbed his phone again.

“Yes, is this the assistant to Mr. Wilder? My office, now.” he demanded before hanging up.

A few minutes later, another knock came to the door and an older woman stepped inside. She was a bit mousy, but she had almost a motherly aura to her. She smiled as she walked in.

“Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Wheeler. How can I help you?” she said sweetly.

“Mrs Katherine Knight, am I correct?” Seto asked and she blinked, nodding.

“Yes, sir. How can I be of use?” she asked, pulling a pen and notepad out of seemingly nowhere.

“Congrats, you are now the head of the financial department for the duelist sponsorship.” Seto stated and she blinked again.

“I’m sorry? But, Mr. Wilder…” she was cut off.

“Is no longer with the company. As of right now, he is being investigated for possible funds tampering. As far as I can see, you are a hardworking, straight forward person. I am trusting you to go through every file, folder and document and see what has been going on. I want a very detailed report, including every cent that is unaccounted for, to be documented, do I make myself clear?” Seto asked and she seemed dazed, but nodded vigorously.

“Sir, it will be on your desk by tomorrow.” she stated and with that, was dismissed.

As soon as the door closed, Seto leaned back in his chair and turned to Joey. He had been quiet the whole time, something he hadn’t expected. If anything, Joey seemed sad.

“Joey, are you ok?” Mokuba asked and he just looked at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shocked is all.” he said shrugging and Seto had to wonder if that was true.

“We will get this figured out and we will get you a new card.” Seto stated simply and Joey shook his head.

“I mean it’s not a big deal. I didn’t need it before and I don’t need it now. Kind of feel bad someone lost their job, but he was a prick anyway. I just hope he didn’t steal too much from you guys.” Joey admitted and Seto felt lighter.

Joey wasn’t even concerned that he had been wronged, only worried about them and their company. Joey coughed into his hand and looked at the brothers.

“So, now that that is settled, anyone hungry?” he asked with a smile.

Seto just sighed as Mokuba laughed. Only Joey could think about food at a time like this.


End file.
